Political activist and NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sits with Melissa Shivers, vice president for student life at the University of Iowa, as part of the University Lecture Committee series at Hancher Auditorium on Sunday, March 25, 2018. (Photo: David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen)Buy Photo

Renowned activist and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had words of praise for young people involved in activism throughout the U.S. at his lecture inside Hancher Auditorium on Sunday.

"My hat's off to this generation of young activists because they get it and they're doing it the right way," Abdul-Jabbar said to a packed crowd inside the University of Iowa's auditorium.

All three levels of the 1,800-seat venue had to be opened by Hancher staff because the demand for admission to the free event. Most seats were filled by the time the basketball legend took the stage.

Abdul-Jabbar was visiting Iowa City to take part in an event for the UI Lecture Committee's spring semester programming. Along with Melissa Shivers, vice president of student life at UI,he discussed the current state of civil participation and his own 50 years of making headlines as an activist.

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Political activist and NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sits with Melissa Shivers, vice president for student life at the University of Iowa, as part of the University Lecture Committee series at Hancher Auditorium on Sunday, March 25, 2018. (Photo: David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Shivers opened their discussion, entitled "From Kareem to Kaepernick: A History of Political Activism in Sports," by quoting poet Alice Walker: "activism is my rent for living on this planet."

Abdul-Jabbar agreed with the quote, saying "in order to justify our time on this planet, we have to do good things. It doesn't pay well, but you got to take that sacrifice."

The NBA legend, who retired from playing basketball in 1989 after one of the most dominant careers in American sports, talked of his earliest recollection of being politically active: 1968, at UCLA while he was busy helping his college team win three consecutive national championships.

Martin Luther King Jr. had just been assassinated so Abdul-Jabbar and others staged a peaceful protest on Bruin Walk, a walkway through the college campus.

"People came up to me and said 'Hey, you're going to the NBA, why are you complaining?' My protest had to do with the assassination, they didn't want to acknowledge that," Abdul-Jabbar said.

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Political activist and NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sits with Melissa Shivers, vice president for student life at the University of Iowa, as part of the University Lecture Committee series at Hancher Auditorium on Sunday, March 25, 2018. (Photo: David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

The basketball hall of famer and Shivers discussed the backlash modern protesters, namely Colin Kaepernick, face today. The NFL quarterback began kneeling during the pregame playing of the "The Star-Spangled Banner" in 2016 to bring attention to racial injustice throughout the country.

"Colin's message has been very successful because kids across the country took it to heart," Abdul-Jabbar said. "We saw kids across the nation kneel."

The 70-year-old said he thinks NFL owners colluded to make sure teams did not sign Kaepernick during the 2017 season, but that he had talked to the quarterback and that "he's satisfied with what he's done."

"We owe Colin a lot of credit. He's done essentially what Muhammad Ali had done," Abdul-Jabbar said about his friend, the late boxer who in the late 1960s missed out on many match opportunities and a lot of money after he was denied the ability to box for refusing to be drafted into and fight in the Vietnam War.

"Before too long, the rest of the nation realized Ali was right; the Vietnam War was illegal and unethical. We appreciate and love him to this day because of it," the hoops icon said.

After about a 30-minute discussion, Abdul-Jabbar fielded questions from the audience. One question asked what parents could tell their politically active kids about the potential backlash they could receive for speaking out.

West High senior Lujayn Hamad speaks to a large crowd at College Green Park during the March For Our Lives protest on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Iowa City, Iowa. David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen

West High senior Lujayn Hamad speaks to a large crowd at College Green Park during the March For Our Lives protest on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Iowa City, Iowa. David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen

City High and West High students lead a large group from College Green Park to the Pentacrest for the March For Our Lives protest on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Iowa City, Iowa. David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen

Margalit Frank, a sixth grader at Longfellow Elementary, speaks to a large crowd during the March For Our Lives protest on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Iowa City, Iowa. David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen

Members of the Students Against School Shootings organization thank March For Our Lives marchers at the Pentacrest on Saturday, March 24, 2018 in Iowa City, Iowa. David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen

"The last time Loyola-Chicago won it all," he said, "I was in high school."

Another audience member asked how he made it through four years of college without being paid for his basketball performance. Abdul-Jabbar gave a frank answer: He was given season tickets for his college games, he gave them to a booster who sold them on the black market and the college star "made a nice piece of cash."

"The money allowed me to put gas in my car, take my girlfriend out on a date a few times, nothing crazy," he said.

The question that got perhaps Abdul-Jabbar's most thoughtful answer was when Shivers asked what people could do to help combat racial injustice and racism in the U.S.

"The most profound thing they can do is make new friends. Make friends who don't look like you, that don't come from where you are from," Abdul-Jabbar said.

He mentioned the Jewish cemetery in St. Louis that was vandalized in early 2017 and how local Muslims had raised money to help fix the many toppled headstones.

"Those kind of efforts really bear great fruit because we usually find out they're just like us," he said.

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.